Post by Princeton University

Princeton University graduate student Zain Zaidi, a Ph.D. student in chemistry, has been awarded a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. This merit-based program supports outstanding immigrants and children of immigrants pursuing graduate education in the United States: https://bit.ly/4n25d9K Born in Saudi Arabia to parents of Pakistani descent, Zaidi immigrated to the United States with his family when he was 2 and grew up in Coppell, Texas. In May 2025, he earned his Bachelor of Science in chemistry with a specialization in chemical physics at Stony Brook University. As an undergraduate, he was recognized with a 2024 Barry Goldwater Scholarship, the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence, and induction to Phi Beta Kappa. Now a first-year graduate student, Zaidi is studying theoretical and computational chemistry under the guidance of Joseph Subotnik, professor of chemistry. His goal is to advance novel renewable energy technologies through theoretical work on energy transfer within and between molecules and materials. Zaidi hopes the unconventional approach being developed in the Subotnik lab to understand how electrons and atoms behave will “make it possible to tackle problems in chemistry that have been out of reach theoretically for a very long time.”